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Main definitions of centre in English

centre1

(UScenter)

noun

1The point that is equally distant from every point on the circumference of a circle or sphere.

‘Kepler could not solve the problem but he believed that the densest packing of spheres would be attained if in each layer the centres of the spheres were above the centres of the holes in the layer below.’

‘Then maintain that rhythm as you move into the center of the circle.’

‘She was so angered by this thought that she had changed forms and was halfway to the center of the circle before she realized what she was doing.’

‘What is intriguing is that if we wish to determine the circle centers, we can do so as well.’

‘Certain courageous souls might spend the night keeping watch in the center of a circle of standing stones.’

‘Soon enough, the entire assembly of players had converged on the area around the oak, each straining to see into the center of the circle.’

‘She pushes it and the apple moves around her head as she stands still in the center of the circle created by its movement.’

‘In crustacean larval eyes, the receptor array is tightly bunched into a sphere surrounding the geometrical center of the eye.’

‘Stepping into the center of the circle, she rotated, her feet blurring and her floor-length skirt lifting to her knees.’

‘Measure its diameter (the width across the center of circle) with the ruler.’

‘Then c is the centre of the circle circumscribing the desired heptagon, and the construction is easily completed.’

‘His tall, gaunt, black-robed form was bent over the center of the circle, absorbed in something that only he could see.’

‘I nodded and stood up, making my way towards the center of the circle.’

‘The center of the circle or sphere is the position of the n-mer.’

‘His model was the epicycle-deferent model where the motion of the heavenly bodies was circular, but based on a number of circles whose centres travelled around circles.’

‘A single shaft of sunlight penetrated the canopy above, shining a yellow beam into the center of the circle.’

‘He then produced the talisman he had made, a large, deep-blue crystal held in the center of a circle of dark leather a span across.’

‘The pedal of the involute of a circle, with the centre as pedal point, is a Spiral of Archimedes.’

‘This same man walked to the center of the circle of seats now and held his arms high so everyone could see him.’

‘Any point on a straight line segment between points x and y is the point in common between two circles with centers x and y that have no interior points in common.’

1.1A point or part that is equally distant from all sides, ends, or surfaces of something.

‘the centre of the ceiling’

‘the city centre’

‘This focusing of force is illustrated by the circle in the center of Figure 4.’

‘In the center of the hilt, above the blade, sat a lovely purple gem.’

‘The peak in the center of this surface represented the large estimate of genetic variance in the E3 environment.’

‘Purchase a headlight for the front of your bike, and then attach it to the center of your handlebars or another location of your choosing.’

‘The zippers are in the under surface at the centre and near to each cross boom end for inspection purposes.’

‘A strong wind blew against his face as he walked into a dark room that was only lit by two simple torches side by side in the center of the square.’

‘The mouth leads to the intestine and anus, which is located in the center of the aboral surface in regular echinoids.’

‘The membrane normal is oriented along the z axis, and the center of the bilayer is at Z = 0 A.’

‘Touch the top center and the two side panels on the right at the same time.’

‘Tyler walked over to the console and gripped the wheel attached to the center.’

‘The centre pleat on each side is a deep inverted box pleat which opens out when something largish is carried inside the bag.’

‘Each bike has the same measurement from saddle tip to the center of the stem/handlebar.’

‘The center of the pole was thickest, the other two points tapering slightly before ending at a sharp point.’

‘When touring the blues clubs of Chicago, it is best to stay around the centre and the north side of the city.’

‘Construction began with the assembly of a cylindrical structure deeply embedded in the center of the flat side of the asteroid.’

‘The divine figure suckling adolescents, the widest plaque and situated almost in the center, dominates this side.’

‘Mark a circle in the center of the paper to allow the air to pass through.’

‘Now the advantage of our car is that you can just put the rear seats down and lay everything out as it was in the centre and pull down side seats and carry on in a civilized manner.’

‘Thenix admitted, dialing his order into the pad on the center of the table.’

‘Although this design does not border the field, it does have the advantage of intersecting the pivot head in the center of the field.’

‘These pressure distributions apply a side force to the hammer piston which strives to center the hammer piston in the guide.’

‘Place the keg on the scale and tilt it on its edge centering it in the middle of the scale.’

‘Center the nail in the nail slot and drive the nail straight in.’

2.1no object(in soccer, hockey, and other team games) kick, hit, or throw the ball from the side to the middle of the playing area.

‘he centred from a difficult position on the left’

‘James centered the ball for Macauley to finish with a header, but Mariano intervened and prevented a goal.’

‘The Hacketstown defence has not been itself of late and they were again found wanting when Wesley Maher manoeuvred his way to the end line before centring for Paddy Whelan to give Town the lead in the 18th minute.’

‘In just the sixth minute of play Larkin beat her defender on the right side of the field and centered the ball to junior forward Fellows.’

‘"The player that centred the ball for Allen to score the equaliser was Richardson," he said.’

2.2North American no objectPlay as the middle player of a line or group in certain team games.

‘Quinn used two lines against that line, one centered by Mario Lemieux and the other by Joe Sakic.’

‘The new Grumpy Old Men line of veterans Kirk Muller, Mike Keane and John MacLean became a real defensive weapon, joining productive lines centered by Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk.’

‘A former Penguin will center Jagr's line, but except for on the power play, it won't be Lang.’

‘The Sedins likely will play with two-way winger Trent Klatt, whom they played with in training camp, and another line probably will be centered by creative sophomore Harold Druken.’

‘In the meantime, Brad Chartrand is centering the Vlasak-Palffy line.’

Origin

Late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin centrum, from Greek kentron ‘sharp point, stationary point of a pair of compasses’, related to kentein ‘to prick’.